Bathtub attachments



Jan. 16, 1962 J. w. FLOOD 3,016,547

BATHTUB ATTACHMENTS Filed June 15, 1959 /7 INVENTOR.

JQMEs wfloou Qwwi ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,016,547 BATHTUB ATTACHMENTS James W. Flood, 424 6th SE., Auburn, Wash. Filed June 15, 1959, Ser. No. 820,198 2 Claims. (Cl. 4-185) This invention relates to improvements in bath tubs and the like, and has reference more particularly to the application to the usual forms of bath tubs, of cooperating hand hold and arm rest members to be used to aid a bather in lifting himself or herself from the tub.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a device for the above stated purpose, which may be an attachment device in so far as its application to tubs already in use in concerned but which might also be made into or as a permanent part of bath tubs at the time of their manufacture.

More specifically stated, the present invention resides in the provision of an attachment that facilitates the safe getting out of a tub without slipping comprising an arm rest portion of slightly channeled or troughed form that is or can be fixedly applied to the top edge of a side wall part of the tub to permit the forearm portion of one of the bathers arms to be seated therein and which terminates at that end which is farthest from the bather in a handhold portion which the bather can readily grasp as his forearm rests in the channel or troughed arm rest portion, thus to better enable him to lift himself to a standing position, and without danger of slipping.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as this specification progresses.

In accomplishing the above mentioned and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a perspective view, showing a typical bath tub as equipped with a hand hold and arm rest combination embodied by the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view of the arm rest and handhold as applied to a side wall of the tub.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the parts as applied in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken on line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken on line 5--5 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the arm rest and hand grip, showing the manner in which a bather applies his forearm to the channeled portion of the rest, and how he grips the hand hold portion that is associated with the arm rest for lifting himself to a standing position.

Referring more in detail to the drawings In FIG. 1, 10 designates a typical present day type of bath tub having a side wall 10:: to which the device of the present invention, designated in its entirety by numeral 12, has been applied and fixedly attached. It is to be understood that devices of the present invention might be applied to both side walls of the tub at opposite sides, may be of various designs or styles other than here shown and it might be necessary to more or less fit or shape the base of the device to the curvature of the tub edge on which it is to be mounted. In the present instance, therefore, the description of the single device 12 as shown in FIG. 1 at one side only of the tub, will apply likewise to devices of like character and their use wher- 3,016,547 Patented Jan. 16, 1962 ever applied and whether used at one or both sides of the tub.

Referring now to the device 12 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, it is therein indicated that the device is a unitary moulding or casting preferably of a selected plastic or formed from a fibre glass sheet. It comprises an arm rest portion 14 and a hand hold or grip portion 15. It has been indicated in FIG. 4 that the overall length of this device would be approximately from twelve to sixteen inches. However, it may be more or less according to desires. The hand hold or grip portion 15 is here shown to be in the form of a closed loop projecting upwardly and extending along the top surface of the tub side wall. However, this also might be of any other suitable form such as, for example, a single upwardly arched arm, a knob or even a transversely directed loop. Furthermore, this hand hold portion 15, while here shown as being integral with the arm rest portion 12, might, if desired, be separately formed and separately attached to the tub in a relationship substantially similar to or corresponding to that herein illustrated.

The unitary device, as herein shown is formed with an attaching wing 18 located at and projecting beyondthe wider end of the arm rest portion and adapted to lie flatly against the top surface of the tub side wall to receive a rivet, screw or other attaching means :as designated at 19. Also, it is formed at opposite sides, at the juncture of the arm rest and handle, with laterally projecting wings 2020 for attachment to the tub wall in any suitable way.

It is further to be observed that the arm rest portion 14 is flared outwardly from its hand grip end to accommodate it to the larger part of the forearm and it has been indicated in FIGS. 5 and 6 that the arm rest portion has been shaped from sheet material bent or molded to the desired trough or channel form. It is possible, however, that this part might be a solid block of any suitable material such as plastic, rubber, wood or metal, but its application to the tub wall for use will, in all instances, be similar to the showing in FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6.

With a device 12 applied to a tub wall in the manner illustrated, its use is as follows:

The bather, while sitting in the tub rests a forearm in the arm rest portion 14 and grasps the hand hold portion 15, in the manner that has been illustrated in FIG. 4. He then uses this arm to pull himself to a standing position. The troughed form of the arm rest 14 prevents the bathers arm from slipping oft" the wall and thus aids in the use of the hand hold 15 especially with the initial lifting effort applied.

Devices of this kind are especially advantageous to invalids, cripples, aged persons and is an accident preventing means that can be used by all.

It is not desired that the device he confined to the specific form and details herein illustrated but that it include any combination of analagous parts applied individually or as a unit to a tub for the purpose stated.

What I claim as new is:

1. An attachment device for a bathtub, comprising an elongated trough member having an arm rest element arcuately shaped in transverse cross section adapted to fit the forearm of a person, said arcuate element extending upwardly on opposite longitudinal sides thereof to form sidewalls for preventing the forearm from sliding laterally therefrom, a hand grip member formed integral with said trough member adjacent one end thereof, a base portion joined to the longitudinal sidewalls of said arcuate element and extending downwardly below the bottom of said element and thereafter extending underneath said arcuate bottom to provide a bottom for the base portion, the bottom of said base portion being substantially planar shaped for abutting a bathtub edge on which it is to be mounted, and means on said trough member to secure said trough member in position on a tub.

2. The attachment device of claim 1 wherein one end of said arcuate element is wider than the other end thereof and said hand grip member is a loop formed integral with said trough member adjacent said other end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 870,676 Hayden Nov. 12, 1907 2,066,088 Bentley Dec. 29, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 94,864 Sweden Mar. 1, 1939 587,988 Germany Aug. 27, 1935 940,436 France May 24, 1948 

